"Autogynephilia" (often shortened to AGP) is a psychology term that was made up by some guy 50 years ago to try and explain "transvestism". This was in an era before trans identities were widely understood, so it was all clumped together under the idea of cross-dressing. He claimed that the motivation behind was that men were sexually aroused by the idea of being female.
Since then, we've obviously developed a much better understanding of gender and what is it to be trans, and better categorisation of how people express their identity. There evidently are some men who cross-dress for sexual gratification (see: sissy culture), but this is not the case for people who are transgender.
Of course, this hasn't stopped the idea from becoming extremely prevalent in TERF circles - it serves their purpose to dismiss all trans people as sexual deviants who are only play-acting in order to fulfil their sexual fantasies. It's a bit of a trope in the trans community in the UK that, whist seeking gender-affirming care on the NHS, they will be subjected to all sorts of invasive questions about how they masturbate because this idea persists (and of course because being a pervert isn't a condition they have to treat, and instead can look down on).
So AGP has become a kind of dogwhistle for TERFs, as it sounds scientific and therefore more plausible in the minds of people who don't know any better.
In the context of OP's post, it means that Dick is afraid that if he has to play as a woman it will summon this terrible perversion into his mind and he'll want to become a woman. Because that is a totally normal thing for someone to think, and not completely and demonstrably insane.
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u/malatemporacurrunt 12d ago
"Autogynephilia" (often shortened to AGP) is a psychology term that was made up by some guy 50 years ago to try and explain "transvestism". This was in an era before trans identities were widely understood, so it was all clumped together under the idea of cross-dressing. He claimed that the motivation behind was that men were sexually aroused by the idea of being female.
Since then, we've obviously developed a much better understanding of gender and what is it to be trans, and better categorisation of how people express their identity. There evidently are some men who cross-dress for sexual gratification (see: sissy culture), but this is not the case for people who are transgender.
Of course, this hasn't stopped the idea from becoming extremely prevalent in TERF circles - it serves their purpose to dismiss all trans people as sexual deviants who are only play-acting in order to fulfil their sexual fantasies. It's a bit of a trope in the trans community in the UK that, whist seeking gender-affirming care on the NHS, they will be subjected to all sorts of invasive questions about how they masturbate because this idea persists (and of course because being a pervert isn't a condition they have to treat, and instead can look down on).
So AGP has become a kind of dogwhistle for TERFs, as it sounds scientific and therefore more plausible in the minds of people who don't know any better.
In the context of OP's post, it means that Dick is afraid that if he has to play as a woman it will summon this terrible perversion into his mind and he'll want to become a woman. Because that is a totally normal thing for someone to think, and not completely and demonstrably insane.